Two Signs in Bahrain

Today Alison and I decided to drive around the bottom two thirds of the island. Not the whole two thirds - really just the area along the eastern coast of the lower half (but being on the eastern coast is really the same as saying we were on the eastern half of the island). We drove down on one of the highways, took a look at one of the ridiculous resorts that's being built, and drove back up through some of the villages.

On the way down, there is a turn off on the high way. Not an exit, per se, but just a turn off. There were two signs on the turn off warning people away. Here the first as you drive along the road (click to enlarge).


To be honest, the picture of large bombs is more of an incentive to go find something interesting. Good thing they had another sign clearly stating what they wanted people to do. You'd think that they would put this next one first and just leave it at that (again, click to enlarge).


Fortunately, the two signs are right next to each other, so we didn't go too far before we turned around. At some point, I will upload some of the really neat photos we were able to take while driving around and title it: "Things you would see if you came out and visited us."

Our Little Corn on the Cobb

On the right, you'll see an updated picture of the size of our little Round 2 (or you should... my changes haven't taken place yet). The size of an ear of corn might be a little misleading. I don't think he* is as thin as an ear of corn - I'm pretty sure it's a reference to the length (which is about one foot long). Alison can feel the baby moving quite a bit, particularly when something is pressing against her tummy (such as my hand!). He also seems to be active about the time we're going to bed. I've heard stories of people being able to "tickle" and interact with the baby, so I'm hoping that at some point we'll be able to do that!

Here are some of the developments taking place in our little Round 2.

• Round 2 is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up.
• His brain is growing quickly (duh - he's going to be a genius)
• His taste buds are continuing to develop.
• His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world.
• His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

There are, of course, other things going on besides the development of the baby. I mean, Alison and I do have jobs, you know. We have other things to do besides sit around and watch Alison's tummy get bigger.

As many of you know, I've started working for our church part time. I've also been teaching English at one of the language institutes here in Bahrain. I've taught one section so far that has started and ended, and I enjoyed it. The students were beginners, and we were learning things such as "Hi, how are you." "Where is this?" or "Whose is this?" The students - all guys - were a lot of fun to work with. I start my next session in two weeks.

Alison, however, has had a bit of a roller coaster ride. Many of you have heard of H1N1, or "swine flu" as its more commonly known as. Bahrain started the year trying to get schools to close until after the Eid Break (this last week). Though they did delay opening for a few days, most schools were open at the beginning of september. After Eid started, the government has again declared that all elementary and high schools will be closed until mid-October. Of course, parents aren't happy about this because 1) their kids aren't learning and 2) their kids are at home ALL THE TIME. There has even been a facebook group created protesting the governments decision to keep the schools closed! It'll be interesting to see how long the schools will actually be closed for.

While this is bad for students and learning, it is kind of nice because it means Alison can take it a little easier. She will still go into work next week, and aparently there will be some correspondence work that she will have the students do, but it will be more relaxed than a full on teaching schedule.

Lastly, I have been growing my goatee out. It hasn't been all THAT grown out, and I'm not sure it will grow as long as I want it to. But I met a guy the other day that has the beard of my dreams. I thought I'd share.



*We still do not know for certain what gender the baby is. Doctors have split 50/50 on their answer, and Alison and I each have a different 'intution' about what the baby is (she says girl, I say boy). I hate saying a gender-neutral "it" and saying "he or she" everytime gets cumbersome. So I've decided to alternately use "he" and "she" in subsequent blog posts. It might cause confusion, but that's ok.

Quote of the Day

"Nationalism... can be defined as a group of people united by a common error about their ancestry and a common dislike of their neighbors."

-Explaining Foreign Policy (Lloyed Jensen)

So true. So true.

"I feel very scared to be in this country right now."

No, I don't feel scared to be in Bahrain. In fact, Bahrain has been quite fantastic. Rather, the title of this post refers to a quote from a mother in the US, taken from this article on CNN. But like the Secretary of Education says in the article, all the hubbub surrounding President Obama's speech to American students is just kind of silly. Really? Someone is scared to be in the US right now?

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that very few people are truly scared of the leadership in the United States. I mean - is Obama's administration comparable to Ghadaffi? Sadaam? Pol Pot? Stalin? So if people are not truly scared, then what is going on?

Well, I imagine that its one of three things.

1. These people do not understand a real fear of dictatorial leadership, and they need to be a little more knowledgable about the world around them and figure out what life is/was like for people who truly live in fear for their lives.
2. These people are just angry, but don't have enough self awareness to correctly label their feelings.
3. These people are just angry, but saying "I'm angry" doesn't get the results they want. Maybe they think they sound more legitimate saying "I'm afraid" rather than "I'm angry" and feel more justified in their indignation.
   

I would surmise that its really a mix of the last two. But really - do we really need to be scared!? Or even angry about this education speech!? I don't agree with most of Obama's economic decisions, but this doesn't mean that he's dictatorial, grabbing for power at every chance or looking to innoculate our children with his "leftist-communist-socialist" propaganda.

Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I think the speech on Tuesday will be about working hard in school with no partisan message. As a social studies teacher, opportunities like this are fantastic, as the president is speaking directly to students. It gives teachers a chance to relate things like civics and government to their own experience.

Not only that, but as I said in this post, Obama is providing an example as a leader that people (and kids) should work hard. Will this inspire every student in the classroom? Obviously not. But its quite probable that thousands of kids will be inspired. Is that not worth the speech?

I don't think that the people who are claiming to be scared are part of some sort of right-wing conspiracy, or even that they are intentionally trying to add to the derailment of Obama era policies. However, they are letting their anger and frustration over other areas (health care, economic policy) cloud their judgment and color every decision that Obama is making.

Really?! (That's right. I said "really" for the third time. That's how ridiculous these people are).

You're scared!? Tell that to the next Afghan refugee that fled the Taliban in the 1990's. Or someone who's lived in Somalia. Or someone who lived through the purges in Soviet Russia.

Food for Thought: The Nephilim and Neanderthal

So I've just finished this book - "Remarkable Creatures" - and it it (among many other things) the author makes a compelling case for the existence of Neanderthals (actually - he just assumes they existed and his purpose was to determine if homo sapiens evolved from them - he concludes that we did not). But in the process, the detailing of DNA information and such make it believable for them to have existed. Which made me think:

Could the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 have been some sort of Neanderthal race, or something similar? The mention of Neanderthal seems to be a time line marker, and there is little description of them. Here are the descriptions:

• they existed when the sons of God and daughters of men had children
• they were mighty men of old
• they were men of renowned.

The author of the book says that Neanderthals were resilient creatures, and many of their bones show signs of repeated breaks (similar to Rodeo riders), indicating that they hunted large animals. This may have gained them respect as mighty and men of renowned.

As for the first description - existing at the time when sons of God and daughters of men had children - it seems that these "sons of God" were different people than the Nephilim. Neanderthals are characterized as slow and dimwitted, but I'm not sure that this is a fair assessment (ie, the skulls look more like apes therefore they are less intelligent).

(Some commentators online suggested that the Nephilim were the off-spring of the Sons of God and Daughters of men, but I'm not really convinced).

Of course, all of this assumes and old earth, and therefore begins contradicting scripture. Fossil records seem to indicate that Humans and Neanderthals existed around 50,000-100,00 years ago. However, if we take the genealogies in scripture as literal, and assume they are, lets say, 50 years apart, that doesn't line up with a 50,000-100,000 year time line.

I asked a friend this question and she said, "Maybe... but I don't really care." Should we care? Maybe not.

But your comments are welcome anyway.